While your inner child might thrill at the idea of having robots do stuff around the home, if you want to save a bunch of money and have a lawn with that clean-cut, green look, you could be better off sticking with a self-propelled lawnmower instead of the robotic kind. [More]
lawns
California Grass Painters Dyeing More Lawns Green Than Ever Before Amidst Drought
By 5.20.15
We first heard of homeowners spray-painting their lawns green last summer to avoid local “brown lawn” fees on the West Coast, a trend that has only grown now that grass isn’t growing amidst California’s current drought. The owner of one such service that provides landscape painting says he’s taking more orders than ever before, as lack of rain keeps lawns thirsty and dry. [More]
Be Sure To Specify ‘Weed Killer,’ Not ‘Every Plant In The Yard Killer’
By 7.18.12
Before an annual fundraiser he holds in his large backyard, a Minnesota man headed to the local garden center to pick up some weed killer in order to pretty things up. He spent $175 on five bottles of product from the company Ferti-lome. But the product he chose has a cousin in a similar bottle that doesn’t just kill weeds: it kills every plant in sight, then stays in the soil and prevents any plant growth for about six months. Guess which formula the garden center sold him? [More]
Use Minimal Green To Keep Your Lawn From Yellowing
By 2.27.12
If you’ve got a lawn, you’re well aware of the eternal struggle to keep it looking like an idyllic pasture rather than a ragged, balding wasteland of neglected dreams. Your first instinct is to go crazy with watering and high-cost fertilizers, but those methods don’t always keep lawns looking pristine. [More]
California City Threatens Legal Action Against Residents With Fake Grass Lawns
By 11.17.11
Three months ago, the city of Glendale, CA, approved a ban on the use of artificial grass on residents’ front yards — and now authorities plan to go after folks who haven’t ripped up their faux greenery and replaced it with the real thing. [More]
Verizon Buries Bags Of Rocks In Woman's Yard
By 5.19.10
A woman in Albany, NY was gardening in her front yard and uncovered a white plastic bag filled with rocks. Then she found more, over a dozen in all, which turned out to have been placed there by Verizon workers who had removed an old utility pole last month and had run out of sand. [More]
Five Ways To Save Time And Money On Your Lawn
By 8.8.09
We remember from our formative days in suburbia that managing a lawn was a lot like fighting a war. And like modern wars, outsourcing was the cleanest and easiest option, even if it cost a bit more. Well, with five tips from noted cheapskate Jeff Yeager, managing your own lawn could become just a little more manageable.
Mow-It-Right Mows Down Vegetable Garden, Won't Replace It
By 7.16.09
Jason hired a lawn company in Memphis, Tennessee, and then recommended them to a friend. He regrets that now, because they mowed down the friend’s vegetable garden, and seven weeks later they still haven’t replaced it and have stopped communicating with the garden’s owner.
Comcast Offers You A $500 Credit After Digging Up Your Lawn
By 8.5.08
Reader Kyle says that his dispute with Comcast has resulting in something of a happy ending, though they’re still working out that pesky easement issue. Comcast is under the impression that it has an easement on Kyle’s property, while Kyle’s records show that they do not. According to Kyle, Comcast has agreed to mail him some paperwork about the easement and has offered him a credit of $500.
Um, Comcast, Could You Maybe Not Randomly Dig Up My Property Without Asking?
By 7.30.08
Reader Kyle, like so many of us, would rather Comcast not dig up his property without asking, especially when they are a) running cable for his neighbor b) mysteriously avoiding an area near the curb where they could have run the cable without disturbing his yard. To add insult to (landscaping) injury, when he asked the Comcast workers to stop digging they refused, and when he called Comcast to ask them to tell the workers to stop, they also refused, then hung up on him.
